Saturday, April 6, 2013

A Stolen Moment

I have to say that I believe myself to be one of the people who can truly say she is relatively satisfied with her life. I have a wonderful (most of the time) husband, two loving kids who are the bane of my existence, and a job I consistently complain about but truly love.

That said, I'm also one of those people who misses things like time to herself, sleeping past 8:00am, and going shopping... alone.

I also like to have reading time for myself every day and that can be a challenge. These are a few of my favorite strategies for getting a few of those precious moments alone with a book.

How to find reading time with a busy family:

Sneak upstairs when everyone seems occupied. This is a great idea but if you have small children like I do, they seem to have this sixth sense that you are doing something for yourself that doesn't involve them and can find you almost immediately. Truly amazing...and just a tad creepy.

Bring your book to your kid's activities. Love this idea. The only downfall to this is if another parent decides you are their conversation buddy for the night, you are out of luck.

Read while making dinner. Works fine if I'm only making chicken nuggets or grilled cheese. However, I am no Betty Crocker so if I am making anything more elaborate, I usually end up with an iPad or Nook covered in flour or droplets of oil and it is hard to concentrate on the story when you are trying to mash potatoes. Plus, things tend to burn when I get overly engrossed in a chapter.

Lock yourself in the bathroom. This works for phone conversations too and is one of my favorite escape tactics. I can usually get a good 15 minutes of reading or whispered conversation accomplished before my 5 year old plants herself out in the hall to start talking or singing to me through the door.

Give up and just wait until they go to bed. This results in many late nights, difficulty getting up for work, and a husband who feels extremely neglected. Oh well...